Volume 2 • 2020 The Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRACTICE AND DISCIPLINE OF THE METHODIST CHURCH VOLUME 2 Published by Order of The Methodist Conference METHODIST PUBLISHING All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced. stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of Methodist Publishing. © 2020 Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes British Library Cataloguing in Publication data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Seventh Edition prepared (at the direction of the Methodist Conference) by the Law and Polity Committee of the Methodist Church First published in 1951 Second Edition 1953 Third Edition 1958 Third Edition with Appendix 1962 Fourth Edition 1964 Fifth Edition 1969 Sixth Edition 1974 Seventh Edition 1988 Volume 2 revised annually — this revision 2020 ISBN 978-1-85852-488-7 Published on behalf of the Methodist Church by Methodist Publishing Methodist Church House, 25 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5JR Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd Croydon CR0 4YY CONTENTS Volume Page Preface ............................................................................ 1 iii Preface ............................................................................ 2 vii Foreword ............................................................................ 1 vii Book I The Principal Act 1 1 Methodist Church Act 1976 ............................................. 1 3 Book II The Deeds 2 201 Part 1 Deed of Union ................................................................. 2 203 2 Model Trusts ................................................................... 2 239 Book III Standing Orders 2 261 Part 0 Introductory .................................................................... 2 263 1 The Conference............................................................... 2 311 2 Methodist Council and Connexional Committees ............... 2 351 3 The Connexional Team ..................................................... 2 381 4 The Districts ....................................................................... 2 419 5 The Circuits ........................................................................ 2 463 6 The Local Churches ............................................................ 2 515 7 Presbyters and Deacons (1) – Status and Stationing .......... 2 547 8 Presbyters and Deacons (2) – Terms of Service ................. 2 617 9 Property ......................................................................... 2 631 10 The Church in Mission ..................................................... 2 677 11 Complaints and Discipline ................................................... 2 683 Book IV Other Legislation and Constitutional Documents 2 751 A. Other Statutes .................................................................................... 1 29 Part 1 Methodist Church Act 1939 ................................................. 1 31 2 Methodist Church Funds Act 1960 ....................................... 1 49 B. Other Constitutional Documents .......................................................... 2 751 Part 3 [deleted] 4 World Methodist Council ...................................................... 2 753 5 Rule of Life of the Methodist Diaconal Order......................... 2 755 Book V Historic Texts 1 71 Part 1 The Wesleys’ ‘Rules of the Society’, 1743 ............................ 1 73 2 ‘The Twelve Rules of a Helper’, 1753 ................................... 1 77 3 The ‘Liverpool Minutes’, 1820 ............................................. 1 79 4 Methodist Church Union Act, 1929 ...................................... 1 89 5 Resolutions on Pastoral Work, 1971 .................................... 2 757 The Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church 2020 iii Book VI Regulations Adopted by the Conference 2 759 Part 1 Qualification for Appointment under S.O. 010(3), and Duty to Obtain Disclosures ........................................... 2 761 2 Model Trusts – Consultation Regulations .......................... 2 764 3 Criteria for Authorising Persons other than Presbyters to Preside at the Lord’s Supper ......................................... 2 766 4 The Church and Public Protection: Procedures Necessary to enable those who present a Safeguarding Risk to be Involved in a Church Community ...................................... 2 768 Book VII Guidance 2 771 A. Guidance relating to Ministers 1 Charter for Outgoing and Incoming Ministers ..................... 2 772 2 Guidelines on Provision of Adequate Accommodation for Manses.................................................................. 2 775 3 Holidays ......................................................................... 2 776 4 Connexional Appointments............................................... 2 777 5 Ministers Affected by Impairment: A Guide to Good Practice .. 2 779 B. Guidance relating to Church Governance Part 6 Guidelines for the Business of District, Circuit and Local Meetings ............................................................ 2 784 7 Permitted Gambling ......................................................... 2 793 C. Guidance relating to Pastoral and Ethical Matters Part 8 Christian Preparation for Marriage: Methodist Church Policy and Guidelines ................................................... 2 795 9 Guidelines for Inter-Faith Marriages .................................. 2 800 10 Responding to Requests by Same Sex Couples for Prayers or Services ...................................................... 2 803 11 The 1993 Conference Resolutions on Human Sexuality ..... 2 805 12 Through a Glass Darkly: Recommendations as to Methodist Practice in Relation to Alcohol ....................... 2 806 13 Guidance for Reception of Christians of Other Communions into the Membership of the Methodist Church and Joint Confirmations . ................... 2 807 14 Guidelines for Good Practice in Confidentiality and Pastoral Care .................................................................. 2 810 15 Homophobia: Definition and Guidance .................................. 2 816 List of Committees ................................................................................ 2 817 Comparative Tables ............................................................................ 1 111 ............................................................................ 2 819 Index ................................................................................ 1, 2 [1] iv The Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church 2020 Editor’s Notes. (1) Generally in this edition, text in bold italics differs from that of the previous year, and [...] indicates an omission, although changes in the editorial notes in small type are not marked, nor changes in the contents tables at the head of each Book, Part and Section. (2) Users are invited to report any errors or omissions, in relation both to the text of this volume and to the index, to the Officer for Legal and Constitutional Practice, Methodist Church House, 25 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5JR or email [email protected]. (3) Due to the national lockdown restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Conference was unable to meet physically in 2020 and therefore met online in order to deal with essential business and other pressing matters. Various resolutions were passed to enable the Conference of 2020 to conduct its business effectively in these unusual circumstances, and numerous Standing Orders were suspended during the course of the Conference under the powers set out in cl.19(c) of the Deed of Union (Book II, Part 1). Where suspension of a particular Standing Order was resolved to continue beyond the duration of the Conference itself, an explanatory note has been appended to the Standing Order. Additionally, the enforced restrictions on large gatherings meant that the usual ordination services immediately following reception into Full Connexion were not able to take place. The Conference of 2020 therefore recognised the status of “ordinands in Full Connexion”, both presbyteral and diaconal, and directed that certain Standing Orders should or should not apply to them pending their ordination. Those directions are summarised as follows: (i) All provisions in Standing Orders or in Book VI of this Volume 2 applying both to presbyters and presbyteral probationers or both to deacons and diaconal probationers shall also apply to presbyteral and/or diaconal ordinands in Full Connexion (as the case may be). This direction applies whether the provisions in question refer directly to presbyters or deacons or by way of the word “minister” or “ministers”. (ii) All provisions in Standing Orders relating to invitations, curtailment and extension of invitations, sabbaticals, continuing development, resignation, reinstatement, base of ministry, permission to serve elsewhere or study, supernumeraries, seniority, school, prison and workplace chaplaincies, and complaints and discipline, which apply to presbyters shall also apply to presbyteral ordinands in Full Connexion, and all such provisions which apply to deacons shall also apply to diaconal ordinands in Full Connexion. (iii) All provisions in the following Standing Orders which apply to presbyters shall also apply to presbyteral ordinands in Full Connexion: 052(2), 057(3), 210(1)(iv), 212(4),